Computer integrated manufacturing systems have been developed to provide efficient and flexible manufacturing. In a computer integrated manufacturing system, many manufacturing tools are linked by a factory controller, with the factory controller directly or indirectly controlling the operation of the tools to produce a finished product. Computer integrated manufacturing systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,783 to Johnstone et al. entitled Flexible Manufacturing System; U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,913 to Yomogita et al. entitled Flexible Transfer Machine; U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,423 to Beasley et al. entitled Computer Integrated Manufacturing System; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,704 to Lengefeld entitled Computer Controlled Material Handling. Computer integrated manufacturing systems are surveyed in a publication entitled A Synthesis of Factory Reference Models by Parunak et al., Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on Languages for Automation, August 1987.
A computer integrated manufacturing facility typically includes many manufacturing tools, from many different manufacturers, each of which typically includes its own tool controller. The factory controller provides global level control, and interfaces with the tool controllers via one or more levels of cell controllers in a hierarchical system. A cell controller may link the factory controller with one or more tool controllers. Alternatively, a cell controller may link a factory controller or another cell controller to one or more cell controllers or one or more tool controllers. The cell controllers provide an interface for translating global level control instructions from the factory controller to the specific operational instructions for a selected tool controller so that the tool performs desired manufacturing operations.
Computer integrated manufacturing techniques have also been applied to the automated manufacture of microelectronic or semiconductor devices. Computer integrated manufacturing systems which are specifically directed to microelectronic device manufacture are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,246 to Caccoma et al. entitled Automated Integrated Circuit Manufacturing System; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,242 to Kotan entitled System for Manufacturing Production of Semiconductor Devices. Modeling of a semiconductor manufacturing facility was described in an article entitled Successful Modeling of the Semiconductor R & D Facility by Tullis et al., International Semiconductor Manufacturing Science Symposium Proceedings, May, 1990. In the semiconductor manufacturing environment, research has been directed to integrated network communications in the facility. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,218 to Cornwell entitled Communications Adaptor For Automated Factory System and an article by the present inventors entitled A Prototype SECS Message Service for Communication in a Semiconductor Manufacturing Environment, IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vol. 2, No. 4, November, 1989.
Notwithstanding all of the research in computer integrated manufacturing methods and systems, the cell controller itself has not been well defined. Typically, to the best of Applicant's knowledge, a cell controller is designed for each specific interface required in the computer integrated manufacturing system. This specific design is undertaken notwithstanding the fact that many of the functions of the cell controller would appear to be common for all cell controllers. This commonality of function is present because many of the tools perform similar functions even though they originate from different manufacturers or are different models from a particular manufacture. Moreover, even different tools include certain common instructions, for example for admitting the workpiece into the tool and for discharging the workpiece from the tool.
The requirement of a custom design for each cell controller has limited the flexibility of computer integrated manufacturing systems. It is difficult to upgrade a tool or to reconfigure the tools for a new manufacturing process when using customized cell controllers.